News Physics

Gravitational waves reveal the first known mergers of a black hole and neutron star

An elusive source of ripples in spacetime has finally been found

illustration of a black hole merging with a neutron star

A black hole (illustrated in black) and a neutron star (white) spiral inward before merging, producing ripples in spacetime (dark gray).

Mark Myers/OzGrav/Swinburne University

By Emily Conover

Caught in a fatal inward spiral, a neutron star met its end when a black hole swallowed it whole. Gravitational ripples from that collision spread outward through the cosmos, eventually reaching Earth. The detection of those waves marks the first reported sighting of a black hole engulfing the dense remnant of dead star.